Note: This review is spoiler-free, but does assume you’ve read the previous Lux novels. If you haven’t, please check out our review of Obsidian.

Opal opens with everyone still trying to cope with the events at the end of Onyx. While the rest of the group struggles to cope with the death of one of their own and the reappearance of Dawson, Katy is recovering for her own ordeal.

Battered and bruised, all she wants is for things to settle down. With Dawson’s escape and the death of the DOD officer they all knew that’s unlikely though. When an old enemy returns, Katy and Daemon find themselves blackmailed into a rescue mission that seems doomed before it’s even begun.

Like the first two books, there is plenty of action in Opal, although this installment sees the teens being more proactive when it comes to the bad guys. It builds on the plot threads from the previous books, delving deeper into the conspiracy of government experiments on hybrids. Katy’s control over her powers continues to grow. She isn’t the weak link anymore, wielding them with growing confidence. What she struggles with most is the ever greying moral area of just how far she would be willing to go to protect those she loves.

One of the things I loved about the previous two books was the chemistry between Katy and Daemon. It’s still there, but now that they are together the biting back and forth between them has settled down and I have to confess at times I missed it. However, there are moments of teenage insecurity and arguments and the attraction is still palpable, managing to be both steamy and sweet. Thing may be going well for these two, the same cannot be said for Katy’s friendships in Opal. New ones are forged, old ones lie in tatters and one even turns deadly.

For most of the book I was hovering around the 3.5- to 4-star mark and then last 50 pages happened. The end of this book had my pulse racing, my eyes welling up and my jaw dropped so hard I may have bruises for a week. As soon as I finished I realized the whole book had been building up to this point, and it totally floored me. Suffice to say I’m now gagging to find out what happens next.

Even though Opal is no slouch in the action department, it does have an air of “calm before the storm” about it. The tension creeps up Mission Impossible style, building toward an intense conclusion that will have serious ramifications. Butterfly-inducing and packing a couple of jaw droppers, this is easily becoming one of my favorite YA series around.

Sexual content: Sensuality, non-graphic sex scenes

3 Responses to “Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux #3)”

Holy freaking cow!!!! I just finished this book……THANK GOODNESS I was home alone cause people would have thought I was loosing it!!!! I was throwing my arms around, jumping up and down, hollaring like a fool!!! When does the next book come out??!!?? Please tell me soon!!